Mark Allen insists he will thrive on the big occasion as he prepares to take on John Higgins for a place in the Dafabet Masters final today.

Higgins, one of the all-time greats, is bidding for his third Masters title and will be provide a stern test after he blitzed Ryan Day 6-1 late last night.

But Northern Ireland ace Allen has been supreme at the Alexandra Palace so far and, with heavy favourites Ronnie O'Sullivan and Mark Selby already out of the tournament, the 31-year-old has a real chance to win his first Masters crown.

"There will be no more nerves than any other match - I enjoy the matches against the best players as I feel it brings out the best in me and I can get up for it a bit more," he said. "It doesn't really faze me who I'm playing.

"The crowd are normally a bit louder at the weekend and they get involved a bit more but that just adds to the occasion.

"That's why you play - you want to be involved in the big arenas in the latter stages of big tournaments.

"That's what it's all about and you will judge your career by how you performed on those big occasions."

The winner of that match will take on either Judd Trump or Kyren Wilson, after Trump overcame Shaun Murphy 6-4 in Friday's other quarter-final.

Watch the London Masters live on Eurosport and Eurosport Player with Colin Murray and analysis from Neil Robertson, Jimmy White and Neal Foulds.